Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is participating in what she calls “hot labor summer,” joining the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America (WGA) picket line at Netflix’s Manhattan offices.
“We have workers all across the country — either currently on strike or gearing up to be on strike — because at the end of the day we are all facing the same challenge, which is an unacceptable, unprecedented concentration of wealth and corporate greed in America,” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“But we know that the way that we bust that up is by standing together in solidarity,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Mentioning another potential strike after talks between shipping giant UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters fell apart earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez exclaimed, “Your fight right here is what’s gonna bust this thing wide open.”
“Direct action gets the goods, now and always,” she told the crowd to cheers.
“The only way that we can do this is by showing them that we are stronger — that our solidarity is stronger than their greed, that our care for one another will overcome their endless desire for more,” the 33-year-old lawmaker said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office didn’t immediately respond to ITK’s request for further comment.
The WGA strike began in May, while SAG-AFTRA, the actors guild, started its own in mid-July. Both of Hollywood’s two striking unions are attempting to gain wage increases and better working conditions for their members.
Ocasio-Cortez, a then-political newcomer, was the focus of a 2019 documentary that aired on Netflix, called “Knock Down the House.”
Outside Netflix’s offices Monday, she condemned “greedy” CEOs and other corporate executives.
“Frankly, while this is a fight against AI,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referring to artificial intelligence, which the unions have said is a potential threat to its members’ livelihoods, “more than AI, this is a fight against greed.”
“This is a fight against the endless pursuit of more wealth.”